Leviticus 1

Leviticus 1

The offerings of Israel are also described by God. A broad outline had been given in Exodus 29 of the regular daily offerings. Here we deal with the special offerings of the individuals.

The burnt offering

The sacrificial offerings to be given for the burnt offering is from the livestock and not from the agricultural produce, because without blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). For the burnt offering it had to be a male animal and not female.

This offering is to be offered by one’s own freewill (vs 3). That means it is offered by a sincere desire to set right one’s relationship with God and not because the “Law says so.”

This burnt offering was meant to be an atonement for our sins (vs 4). When John the Baptist in John 1:29 says “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world”, he was possibly referring to this atoning sacrifice.

The laying of his hands on the sacrifice (vs 4) was meant to be a transfer one’s authority and self to the lamb, signifying that the lamb was his representative (accepted on his behalf). It is a mistake to see this as a transferring of sin.

Our sin warranted our death. In our place we offer the animal. This animal was fully burnt to signify our total surrender of our lives to Yahweh. It is a mistake to see this ritual as a cleansing or bathing process of cleansing from sin, but rather as a repeated surrender and reminder of our surrender in totality to Yahweh.

1 John 4:10 says that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. For this Jesus in baptism identified with mankind, and we in baptism identify with Jesus so that we die with Him and live with Him (Romans 6:4). It is a total surrender of our life to Jesus and the imagery is the same as in the burnt offering. As Paul writes in many places we now live for Jesus not ourselves. (2 Corinthians 5:15)

The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and the pouring of the blood at the altar (vs 5) signified the surrender of the life to Yahweh.

The offering was not burnt as one piece but was cut into pieces and burnt, probably to ensure that all of it was burnt and it took place quickly. This breaking symbolized our own brokenness before God. The exception was when the offering was a bird and it was burnt whole but partially cut (vs 17).

The entrails and feet were washed to make sure that no dirt and excreta are there (vs 9).

The skin was not burnt and was given to the priest according to Leviticus 7:8. There is probably no spiritual meaning in this apart from an income to the priest. We need to provide for the support of the workers in the ministry.

People who could not afford a bull could offer a ram or a he-goat (vs 10), and the very poor a dove or a pigeon (vs 14). Atonement was available to all. It was not to be priced out of their reach. The only cost was the surrender of self to Yahweh.

The Tabernacle faced east (Ex 27:9-15) and the burnt offering was killed to the right as one entered (vs 11). The waste was thrown to the east or towards the entrance probably for ease in clearing.

AUTHOR STIR

1. God made the ritual affordable to all. But the true cost was one’s life. Have you made the burnt offering of your life to Jesus? What does it involve?
2. What have you offered to the one who helped you in the process?